I installed mine in a lid. This allows a lot of versilility, like being able to also use it as an IC, but does make it harder to drain. I chill by running the wort through the HEX with the HLT filled with tap water to get down to ~120F. While that's going I throw a couple bags of ice and a little water in the MLT. I then complete the chilling by moving the HEX coil to the MLT. I also installed a T in the output side of the HEX for a thermowell to monitor exit temps both during the mash and when chilling. By ball lock do you mean ball valve? If so you don't really need one.

Was just looking at those exact things yesterday and had the same reaction. The SS compression fittings are cheaper by a little bit elsewhere but by the time you add shipping from other places it's pretty much a wash. I wonder if anyone has a considerably cheaper source for those?

I'm pretty sure I picked mine up for <$5 ea at home depot. They look just like the ones in the pic above. The cost of fittings adds up fast no matter what. Even though I skimped and used a lot of brass, copper, and aluminum, the fittings were still a large portion of the cost of my HERMS.